Wednesday, November 21, 2012

ESA Lunar Lander mission axed

The EADS Astrium - European Space Agency (ESA) Lunar Lander, clinging to a 2018 landing, possibly on the rim of lunar South Pole crater Shackleton, is likely scrubbed [EAS/Astrium].

Germany's DLR has reportedly given up advocating the 2018 south polar Lunar Lander mission as ESA member nations struggle with dire discretionary budget constraints in the midst of an on-going sovereign debt crisis.

Germany dropped further efforts to secure joint European funding for Lunar Lander at an ESA budget meeting in Naples in favor of upgrades to the Ariane 5.

Meanwhile, following NASA's exit from the ExoMars orbiter-rover mission, in development since 2005, Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has become ESA's new launch partner, set to launch the orbiter half of that mission in 2016 and its tandem six-wheeled rover two years later.